As our election process degrades further and further into voting for the lesser of two evils, I urge all to vote Bubonic Plague. Since this year’s opponent (Small Pox) has a far superior kill rate to the plague and those who survived small pox were usually grossly disfigured or handicapped, I see little choice but to vote Bubonic Plague. So, while I’m no big fan of the plague I decided not to “waste my vote” for some vaguely healthy third party which has no chance of winning and instead cast my vote for the plague. My vote is more accurately a vote against small pox, and I join the huge chorus of people who chant “anything but small pox” as their campaign slogan.

The US presidential elections have become a total farce in which neither candidate’s policies reflect the will of the people, but rather the uber-wealthy. It is absurd that in a representative democracy we are not offered a candidate whose central policies are aligned with the wishes of the vast majority of its citizens. In poll after poll it is common that over 60 to 70 % of democrats and republicans preferences are in direct opposition to the policies of the candidates regarding the economy, education, bail outs, military involvement, the budget, privacy, civil liberties, government and corporate transparency and public health. The differences between the candidates are dwarfed by their similarities. While both of their positions on key issues clearly on the opposite side of the public will.

Let me try one more image in an attempt to capture the utter absurdity of this presidential election. Politicians are defined as and referred to as public servants. Let’s imagine that our nation is one huge restaurant and we are hiring (electing) a cook. In this analogy the pubic opinion polls act as a menu of entrees, appetizers, etc. which we want the restaurant to serve. We, the people, have requested an extensive menu with a point of emphasis of cutting down on fat and offering healthy eating options.

Yet, now the final two cooks vying for the position are offering us menus with not a single item on them which we had suggested or requested. Add to this fact that the menus are doninated by fatty red meats, rich sauces, and generally cholesterol laden foods. First of all, one has to question the interview process of how out of all the cooks available these became the finalists. Then, we need to question the sanity of the restaurant owners (voters) to actually hire one of these arrogant clowns who refuse to cook what we ask and to respect our health requirements.

Hell these are not servants but executioners. I know that the words executive and executioner have the same etymological roots, but who would think that the “executive branch” and “the highest executive officer” (president) would become our executioner. The president of the US is the only public servant hired (elected) by the entire populace. How can we accept that this servant is ignoring and in so many ways opposing our will, requirements and wishes?

Our elected leaders are becoming our executioners in the indirect fashion in that they are ignoring our healthy policy menu and cooking up their own dishes (policies) that endanger and kill us. Yet, their role as potential executioners has become more literal and direct than the public servant cook image suggests.

With president Obama’s demonstrating total disregard for the constitution by signing into law the ability for the president of the US to imprison american citizens indefintely without trial, and execute anyone (even citizens) due to his personal assessment that they are a danger to the state, we now live in a country that has legalized tyranny. The president now has as much legal power as any ruthless king or tyrant has ever had.

While this may not be a new thing for most nations, who have had kings and tyrants imprison and execute perceived threats to the state, it is new for the US. Most nations have outgrown such savagery and realized that this power is inevitably abused with utlimately many people being killed due to only their words, principles, or a resistance to implement and support power gone awry.

This is not to say that the US’s history in regard to the abuse of power is free from blemish. We’ve had our witch hunts literally and figuratively in which people have been imprisoned and executed unjustly. Yet, in almost every case there still was due process such as a trial even if the trial were a farce.

In our country’s recent history with the Red Scare of the 50’s, the maltreatment of the Japanese/American citizens during wartime, and some of our anti-Muslim actions of today we do demonstate our baser natures. Yet, in these examples, for the most part, people were imprisoned or their careers ruined through the legal process or a form of mob rule.

What is important to realize is that this is the first time in history in which we have bestowed upon an individual the power to violate the constitution, due process, and the rights of the individual which are the very basis of the republic. I can only think of one other example in our nation’s history in which one individual was given by the community the right to execute citizens without a trial or official charges due to that person being perceived as a dangerous threat.

The executioner I’m thinking of is The Grand Wizard of the KKK. Maybe, I’m wrong, but this is the only example I can think of where someone is sanctioned by the community to make a unilateral decision to execute an individual without a need for trial or formal charges being addressed. The Grand Wizard was able to make the determination that a person (usually black) was a danger or threat to our way of life and therefore worthy of being executed.

I am not equating our president’s new powers with the value system of a KKK Grand Wizard, I am only stating that this is the closest form of total power functioning outside the law that even a portion of us have sanctioned or allowed to exist. What would have happened if this power of the president were available during the Red Scare, the 60’s demonstrations, civil and womens rights, women’s suffrage, many workers rights movements, and any number of other social movements which were deemed as a threat to our nation and our way of life by some of our leaders. We know that many of our presidents have had public enemy lists which have included outspoken celebrities, artists, writers, political activists, or ordinary citizens who supported ideas that the president found offensive or dangerous. Individuals such as John Lennon, Marin Luther King, Mohammad Ali, Charlie Chaplin, Gore Vidal, Noam Chomsky and Jane Addams would have made many presidents lists of people who were public enemies, threats to the state, or terrorists.

The list of dangerous people to the state has always included a number of people on the forefront of social change and/or who are questioning power and the status quo. Some of the darkest moments of the history of many nations involved royalty and leaders who have imprisoned and executed people based on such a list.

There are many reports out that Obama is adding to his “kill list” on an almost daily basis. The very thought of any president being able to act on this list without any accountability or checks and balances is frightening indeed.

Neither candidate is opposed to this new law of imperial power, so no matter who you vote for today you will be electing a man of unilateral power who can execute or imprison anyone that they find distasteful. We aren’t so much electing a president of a representative democracy as a grand wizard of a hate and fear dominated community.

Jim Guido

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